Session 5: Praying With Persistence And Power

Episode 5 of The Purpose Practice and Power of Prayer series. This is a church small group Bible study series from Buddy Owens at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.

CHECKING IN 

1. Share something you are thankful for. 

2. Did you try using the pattern for prayer we talked about last week? What did you experience? 

KEY VERSE 

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” 

Matthew 7:7–8 (NIV)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 

1. Has there been a time when you had to pray persistently for something? Talk about your experience. What did you learn about God in the process? 
2. “The prayer of a man or woman of the Word is energized by the power of God and is a great force capable of extraordinary deeds.” What does this tell you about the relationship between Scripture and prayer? 
3. In the Lord’s Prayer, our requests come before our confession. What do you think Jesus is teaching us by putting the prayer in this order? 
4. Confession is a part of prayer. Just as we need daily bread, we also need daily forgiveness. And the Bible promises that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NIV). How does this promise impact your confidence in coming to God in prayer? 

PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE 

When you talk to God, it’s not the words but the intent
 that counts. God is not looking for eloquence. He just wants honesty. Pray from your heart. This week, continue practicing the way Jesus taught us to pray. Think of the name by which the Lord will be most glorified in answering your prayer.

Do you need him to be your Healer, your Provider, your Counselor or Comforter? Call on him by name, present your request, then surrender yourself to his sovereignty. 

• Begin with praise and surrender by saying something like this: “My Father, let your name be glorified in my life . . . or My King, let your name be glorified in this challenge . . . or My Master, let your name be glorified in this decision that I’m about to make. My Provider, my Savior, my Guide, my Deliverer, let your name be glorified in whatever it is I’m facing.” 
• Then present your petitions to God. Pour your heart out to God and let him know what you need. 
• Finish your prayer with surrender and praise by saying something like, “Having said all of that, Lord, I want your will to be done more than anything else because I want to live my life for your glory.” 

PRAYER DIRECTION 

If anybody shared any persistent prayers out of the first discussion question, take time as a group to pray for those together. 

DIVING DEEPER 

Dive deeper this week by watching Doable Discipleship: Episode 70, Buddy Owens and the Practice of Fasting. 

This series was created for Saddleback Church's small group curriculum series. For more great Bible studies and small group curriculum, visit pastors.com

And for more great podcasts, visit Lumivoz.com

Creators & Guests

Host

Buddy Owens

Teaching Pastor @Saddleback Church, focused on spiritual formation, and author of The Way of a Worshiper & Finding God in the Desert of the Soul.

Producer

Saddleback Church

Find your purpose and your place at Saddleback Church. No matter where you're at in life, we have a place for you. Welcome home! Bienvenido! Benvingut!

What is The Purpose, Practice, and Power of Prayer: A Saddleback Church Small Group Study?

The Scripture makes it clear that we are in a great cosmic battle. It is not a battle against people. It is a battle against spiritual forces of evil that are trying to destroy the work of God—in the world, and in our lives. But God has equipped us, empowered us, authorized us, and called us to partner with him in accomplishing his purposes on the earth. And we do it primarily through prayer. This is a small group Bible study series by Buddy Owens from Saddleback Church. Download the study guide here: https://saddleback.com/watch/the-purpose-practice-and-power-of-prayer

A Lumivoz podcast

00:00:13:18 - 00:00:36:00
Buddy Owens
Hi and welcome back for Session five in our study of the purpose, practice and Power of Prayer. So now let's take a few minutes to talk about persistence in prayer, because people often ask, well, how long should I pray for something? And why is it that sometimes I have to ask more than once, how many times should I ask?

00:00:36:15 - 00:01:03:10
Buddy Owens
And I've actually heard people say that if you ask God for something more than once, well then that means that you don't have any faith. There are people who actually believe that, but that's just not biblical. Let's see what Jesus had to say about that. In Matthew seven, Jesus says this ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and the door will be open to you.

00:01:03:15 - 00:01:28:19
Buddy Owens
For everyone who asks, receives He who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door will be open. Now look at that verse. Do you notice that he doesn't say when it will happen? In fact, each of those words ask, seek and knock are in what is called for all you grammar nuts out there, the present progressive tense.

00:01:29:08 - 00:02:07:12
Buddy Owens
What it literally means is this be asking, be seeking and be knocking or ask and keep on asking seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking. He's telling us it's a continual you keep you keep asking, you keep seeking, you keep knocking. It's a continual action. So how long do you do that? Well, for me, I pray until the Lord answers the prayer or until I feel a release from having to pray for it anymore.

00:02:08:10 - 00:02:26:13
Buddy Owens
Let me give me some examples of how that's happened in my life. When I was a teenager, I had a friend who lived in Northern California. I used to live in Northern Cal, then we moved to Southern Cal my friend was still in Northern California, and my friend started getting himself into stuff that he shouldn't have gotten himself into.

00:02:27:09 - 00:02:54:15
Buddy Owens
He started smoking dope and then he started selling dope and he was just heading in the wrong direction. And I loved my friend, so I would pray for him every night before I went to bed. And this went on for two years, I prayed that Jesus would get a grip on my friend's life. Now, of course, this was before cell phones and before email, so we'd write letters back and forth to each other, and some of his letters are really pretty gross.

00:02:55:19 - 00:03:26:17
Buddy Owens
But one day I went out to our mailbox and there was a letter from my friend, but I knew just by looking at the envelope that something was different just by looking at his handwriting on the envelope, I could tell something had changed. And when I read that letter, sure enough, he had gone to a church high school camp and had given his life to Christ, and he had sworn off all that stuff.

00:03:26:17 - 00:03:55:24
Buddy Owens
He's now in ministry today. Now, I prayed for this guy every day for two years. Was I the only one praying? Of course not. Certainly his mom was praying for him, and there had to be other people who were praying for my friend. So which prayer made the difference? Who knows? The point is that I prayed until something changed, and we don't know when the change will come.

00:03:55:28 - 00:04:30:26
Buddy Owens
We have no guarantees that if you pray this long and this many times, well, then all your dreams will come true. You just pray until there is a breakthrough. And we don't know when that's going to happen. And I was trying to think of another kind of an illustration that demonstrates this idea of persistence and prayer. And I thought about it's going to sound kind of weird, but I thought about the swimming pool in my backyard, which until just about four or five years ago, I used to take care of myself till I finally got smart.

00:04:32:17 - 00:04:58:19
Buddy Owens
But I remembered a test that I used to do on the water. And I want to show this to you. So it's pretty simple. It's kind of nifty, all of you chemistry fans out there. So I'm going to this is this is water from my pool in this pool, I got to tell you. So this is one of those artificial rock pools, you know, but it is just a pain to take care of.

00:04:59:19 - 00:05:18:29
Buddy Owens
I call it I call it our George October Pool. It's really beautiful to look at really high maintenance. Some of you are going, who's your Gabor? Ask your mom. OK, Googler, you'll figure it out. But anyway, so it's just test someone I got to put on my glasses or I'm going to mess it up and then you're all going to laugh at me.

00:05:19:04 - 00:05:57:25
Buddy Owens
So here we go. This is water from my, my, my pool. Georgia I Gabor pool and I'm going to pour it in here only a certain amount right there. OK, and then I'm going to add a drop of whatever this is one drop like that and I'm going to drop. So this one look like that swirling around a little bit becomes turns this nice sort of violet blue color.

00:05:59:03 - 00:06:18:09
Buddy Owens
And then I'm going to add this chemical one drop at a time. We're going to count the drops until this color goes clear. OK, we're going to count the drops. All right. So here I tried this at home and it worked. So here's 12 swirling around a little bit.

00:06:20:14 - 00:06:58:06
Buddy Owens
Three and 45. I told you this worked at home 6789. Come on, baby. Can 11. It's come coming. I promise you. 1213. Clear.

00:07:00:07 - 00:07:05:26
Buddy Owens
Now, let me ask you a question. Which drop? Turn the water clear.

00:07:08:00 - 00:07:35:16
Buddy Owens
All of them. What would have happened if I had left out the seventh drop? The water would still be Violet. What if I had left out? Drops three and four? Well, let's just get on to number 13, OK? You don't know in your prayer life as you pray a drop, you pray a drop, you pray a drop and then, bam, everything changes permanently.

00:07:36:09 - 00:07:55:25
Buddy Owens
You don't know when that will happen, but you have to faithfully come back and put one more drop in the water. That's one more prayer for that lost person. One more prayer for my sick friend. One more prayer for my friend who's out of work or for my financial need or for what's going on in my kids life.

00:07:56:00 - 00:08:32:11
Buddy Owens
Just like my friend from Northern California. It's one more prayer that I'm praying. And then everything changes. All of it changes permanently. And sometimes you may not even see the answer, but that does not mean that it's not coming. I had a friend who was a World War Two veteran, and he would come to a monthly church service where I preached, and he would turn in a prayer request every month asking me to pray for his son and his daughter in law that they would come to know Jesus.

00:08:33:02 - 00:08:58:02
Buddy Owens
He did this month after month four years. Well, my friend died. He was way up in his nineties, and I had the privilege of conducting his funeral and at the end of his funeral, his daughter in law walked up to me and told me that she gave her life to Christ. When I gave the invitation at the end of his funeral service.

00:08:59:12 - 00:09:38:25
Buddy Owens
You see, just because you don't see the answer doesn't mean the answer isn't coming. How often do we give up too soon? Oh, I asked God and he didn't do anything maybe it needed just one more drop. Ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on seeking knock and keep on knocking. Now I want to talk about the kind of prayer that is most effective and I'm going to get into a little word study that I think will bring some clarity for you and James.

00:09:38:25 - 00:10:01:02
Buddy Owens
516, it says this the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. So I did a little word study of this verse hoping that it would deepen my understanding of how to make my prayers more effective. And here's what I found. I put all of this in your notes already. All right? So you don't have to write all those Greek stuff down.

00:10:02:10 - 00:10:28:10
Buddy Owens
But it's important for us to look at this. The Greek word for righteous in this verse is the word de chaos. And it means upright, observing divine laws, living according to the word. And it describes a person whose way of thinking feeling and acting is conformed to the word and the will of God. In other words, he's got his armor on like we talked about a couple of weeks ago.

00:10:28:11 - 00:10:51:02
Buddy Owens
Right. So how is that possible? Well, it's a learning and a maturing process. It doesn't mean you have to be perfect. You just pointed in the right direction. So in this verse, righteousness means to conform to the word and the will of God in order to live according to the word. We must be people who know the word.

00:10:51:08 - 00:11:13:23
Buddy Owens
So write this down. In order to conform to the will of God, you must conform to the word of God. In order to conform to the will of God, you must conform to the Word of God. That's why the Bible is so important. The word of God will teach you how to pray according to the will of God.

00:11:14:27 - 00:11:39:13
Buddy Owens
He says the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. So the Greek word for powerful is the word inner gale, and it means energized by the power of God and only appears, I believe, it's eight times in the New Testament. But every time you see the word enter Gale, this word in the in the Greek New Testament, it always refers to supernatural power.

00:11:40:12 - 00:12:12:15
Buddy Owens
It does not mean human emotion, although human emotion and passion in prayer are a common response or a demonstration of divine empowerment. But divine empowerment can stir up human emotion. But human emotion is no substitute for divine power. In other words, here's what he's saying. Write this down. When you live by the word of God, your prayer is infused with the power of God.

00:12:13:02 - 00:12:42:05
Buddy Owens
When you live by the Word of God, your prayer is infused with the power of God. So He says, the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. So what's the word effective here? Well, the Greek word for effective is a school and here's what it means. It means to be a force capable of extraordinary deeds. So let me ask you a question Do you want the ordinary or the extraordinary?

00:12:43:15 - 00:13:11:09
Buddy Owens
I want my prayer to be capable of extraordinary deeds. So here's what I wrote down as a result of my study of James 516. And you can write this down, too, in your notes. All right. The prayer of a man or woman of the word is energized by the power of God and is a great force capable of extraordinary deeds.

00:13:11:09 - 00:13:51:15
Buddy Owens
Let me read that again. The prayer of a man or woman of the word is energized by the power of God and is a great force capable of extraordinary deeds. And it says there that that's James 516 be in the big P translation the BGP is the bald guy's paraphrase. So if you want your prayers to be powerful and effective, if you want your prayer life to be infused with the power of God and it and to be a great force capable of extraordinary deeds, well then be sure that your life and your prayers are aligned with the truth of the Word of God.

00:13:52:08 - 00:14:15:04
Buddy Owens
It goes back to our discussion of the armor of God way back on our first session together. So let me summarize this. You can write this down. The more you honor God's Word, the more He empowers your prayers. The more you honor God's Word, the more He empowers your prayers. But let me be very clear about something here.

00:14:16:10 - 00:14:50:29
Buddy Owens
I'm not talking about earning God's favor. You're not earning his favor. Instead, you're inviting it. You're welcoming it. You're readying yourself to receive God's favor. You're making yourself available to God's blessing and power and putting yourself in a position to receive it. Now, I want to tell you a story about about all of this, because a few years back, I was preparing to preach on this verse here at Saddleback Church during during our weekend services.

00:14:52:05 - 00:15:19:13
Buddy Owens
And I was pretty close to being finished with my sermon preparation. But I woke up on a Thursday morning at 3 a.m. So it was Thursday right before the weekend I was going to preach. I woke up on Thursday morning at 3 a.m. In fact, it was July 27th, 2017 at 3:00 in the morning, and something was bugging me. I couldn't sleep.

00:15:20:09 - 00:15:47:06
Buddy Owens
I was disturbed by something. It was even in my dreams and I realized it was this message because I know for me and probably for a lot of us, you might be thinking, look, if if the prayer of the righteous person is powerful and effective, then where does that leave me? You can probably count me out because I sin.

00:15:48:03 - 00:16:18:10
Buddy Owens
I don't feel so righteous. So what hope do I have and that's what woke me up. I got up, went down in my living room, and I paced the floor of the living room 3:00 in the morning on that Thursday morning, wrestling with that question, I could see that I might be preaching myself into a hopeless corner. A corner that says only certain, perfect, flawless, never do anything wrong.

00:16:18:28 - 00:16:44:03
Buddy Owens
People can pray. And so what hope do I have? And I think for so many of us, and this has been my experience, that when I sin, I think well, I can't anymore. I can't right now, not after what I did or thought or said. I mean, why would God even listen to me? Why hope do I have so?

00:16:44:11 - 00:17:13:10
Buddy Owens
To find hope, we have to go to the Word of God. So that's what I did. And I asked myself, what do I know to be true in the Word? And here's one thing I knew God hates sin, but he loves you. And you are not your sin. Fact, you might need to write that somewhere in your notes.

00:17:13:10 - 00:17:47:25
Buddy Owens
Just write it down. I am not my sin. I am not my sin. Here's what the Bible says. My dear children, I'm writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins and not only our sins, but the sins of all the world.

00:17:48:10 - 00:18:22:09
Buddy Owens
God says, Look, don't sin, but when you do sin, I got you covered. Jesus is our advocate He comes to our defense. He says, Come and be forgiven. Come and be cleansed. The Bible says, If we confess our sins, that just means to say the same thing. God says, Yes, Lord, you're right, I was wrong. I've sinned. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

00:18:22:19 - 00:18:50:22
Buddy Owens
He says, When you sin, come to me and tell me about it. I promise. I promise to forgive you, that voice in your head that says, Well, you can't talk to God now. He won't listen to you. You're not good enough. You're too sinful to pray, you're impure. You're not holy enough. That is the voice of the devil.

00:18:51:21 - 00:19:17:28
Buddy Owens
In fact, the Bible calls him the accuser and the father of lies. And by the way, since when did the devil become the defender of God's purity? He just wants to separate you from God. God says come to me. The devil says, keep away from him. Well, whose voice are you going to listen to? Don't ever let sin keep you from God.

00:19:19:06 - 00:19:48:20
Buddy Owens
It should drive you to God, because that's the only place you will find and receive grace. And forgiveness. God will never send you away empty handed. The Bible says this. So let us come boldly, not in fear. Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

00:19:48:20 - 00:20:23:14
Buddy Owens
And when do you need mercy and grace most? When you send you do have hope because you have been invited by God Himself to come and receive mercy and grace, and nobody can turn you away now think about this. This is what hit me at 3 a.m. on July 27th. Jesus is our advocate our defender. He's the one who paid for our sins, and he is the one who taught us to pray.

00:20:24:01 - 00:20:47:09
Buddy Owens
The Lord's prayer. Remember, He said, This is how to pray. Pray this way. He said, Here's the pattern. And in that prayer we pray. These words give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. I'm going to say that again. In fact, I want you to read it with me out loud.

00:20:47:09 - 00:21:11:05
Buddy Owens
Go ahead. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Read it again. It's important. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. I want you to notice two things there. First, notice that confession is part of prayer. Forgive us our debts.

00:21:11:26 - 00:21:43:14
Buddy Owens
Jesus built confession into the prayer. God knows we sin and he has made provision for us. But this is what hit me at three in the morning. Suddenly the order of the prayer became crystal clear. Give us this day. Our daily bread comes before ever forgive us our debts. Jesus did not say, Pray this way, forgive us our debts, and then give us this day our daily bread.

00:21:44:16 - 00:22:15:20
Buddy Owens
Our requests come before our confession. Yes, there is confession but it is not a prerequisite to answered prayer. Now, that doesn't mean that sin is no big deal. It is a big deal. It's why Jesus had to die, but to say, Well, I can't talk to God because there's sin in my life is wrong. Give us this day our daily bread comes before.

00:22:15:26 - 00:22:53:17
Buddy Owens
Forgive us our debts. It's as though God is saying, Tell me what's on your mind. And then we'll talk about what's on your conscience. God hears your prayer even before you confess your sins. So pray. So how does this reconcile with James? 516. Well, let me say it this way. If you wait to pray until you never sin and you'll never pray, you will never be sinless in this life.

00:22:54:19 - 00:23:18:15
Buddy Owens
But you can sin less if you will live according to the Word of God. And as you live more and more according to the word, it's a growth process. One step at a time, one day at a time, one mistake at a time, one getting back up at a time. You will find that your prayers become more and more powerful and effective.

00:23:19:14 - 00:23:50:05
Buddy Owens
Now, that does not mean that God was not listening or answering before, but it does mean that you will be praying more effectively and with greater power because you will be praying according to the Word of God. You will understand His will because you understand His Word. As I said, earlier, you're not earning God's favor, but you are inviting God's favor and making room to receive it.

00:23:51:14 - 00:24:22:08
Buddy Owens
So pray, pray for everything and everyone who pops into your mind. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Be alert and always keep on praying. Now, in our next session, I'm going to try to answer one of life's most difficult questions. What do I do when God says no? I hope you have a great discussion time and I'll see you in our next session.